“They did it in the dark of the night,” according to Larry Egan, executive director of the Downtown Pomona Owner’s Association.

A security guard for the association noted in a report that a Bird representative was seen dropping off the electrical scooters at 4:06 a.m.

The electric scooters are app-based: A user downloads an app on a smartphone and pays for each use. The vehicles have popped up in numerous Southern California cities where ordinances have not been established, and their presence has communities divided.

Being dockless, the scooters are randomly left around town, propped up on sidewalks wherever someone, or the company, leaves them.

Egan received two calls Tuesday morning from businesses wondering what these scooters were and why they were on their private property. The scooters had been left in the entryway of American Museum of Ceramic Art as well as the School of Arts and Enterprise, he said.

It prompted Egan, who was familiar with the controversy in other cities, to call City Hall.

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but they should do it correctly,” he said.

Mark Gluba, deputy city manager, confirmed Bird had requested a business license, and the application is under review.

“Right now, it’s not a permitted use. We’re evaluating the next steps to handle this new dynamic,” he said by phone Tuesday evening.

Pomona had no warning the scooters were coming, Gluba said, adding City Manager Linda Lowry was alerted to Bird’s arrival via an email Tuesday from the company. He only became aware as he saw them driving into City Hall.

Staff will present the council with options to regulate the uses at a future meeting, Gluba said.

“We don’t currently allow business on the public right of way,” he said.

As of Tuesday, Gluba had fielded one call who complained about the scooters. Pomona will ask Bird to remove the scooters until the application is resolved.

“We have reached out and look forward to working closely with local leaders and officials to develop a framework that permits affordable and accessible transportation options to the City of Pomona,” a Bird spokesperson said in an email Wednesday.

Pomona resident Alfredo Camacho-Gonzalez is on board with the company’s arrival. He was in downtown Tuesday afternoon near Garey Avenue and Ninth Street when someone zoomed by him on one of the electric scooters, which can travel 15 miles per hour.

That wasn’t the fist encounter with them Tuesday afternoon. Camacho-Gonzalez had already spotted them nesting in various locations throughout the city.

“People have been using them,” said Camacho-Gonzalez, who had just biked from his barbershop to another spot in the city. “It’s really cool to see them around.”

Camacho-Gonzalez serves as the project coordinator for the healthy communities initiative for nonprofit Day One. He’s a big proponent of getting people to use alternative mode of transportation, such as walking, bicycling and now these scooters.

“It’s a great way to get out of their vehicles and get to know the neighborhood. We have a growing downtown, and there are lots of places to discover,” he said.

It also offers accessibility to the Metrolink stations for someone who might not own a car and doesn’t want to use buses, he said, or people who don’t own bikes.

Liset Márquez covers the cities of Pomona, Claremont, La Verne and San Dimas for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. A beat reporter for the Bulletin since 2006, she previously wrote for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She keeps a watchful eye on city councils and the Dodgers.